APA 7 Citation and Referencing Guide
APA 7 is an author-date citation system widely used in the social sciences, education, psychology, behavioral sciences, and related disciplines.
This guide provides a practical overview of in-text citation and reference list preparation according to APA 7. The selected citation style should be applied consistently throughout the manuscript.
The Basic Structure of APA 7
APA 7 referencing has two main components:
- In-text citations: identify sources within the manuscript using author and year information.
- Reference list: provides full bibliographic information for works cited in the manuscript.
Every in-text citation should correspond to an entry in the reference list, and every reference list entry should normally be cited in the manuscript.
How Are In-Text Citations Written?
APA 7 uses two main forms of in-text citation:
Parenthetical Citation
The author's surname and year appear within parentheses.
Example: Social support may play an important role in coping with stress (Yılmaz, 2025).
Narrative Citation
The author's name forms part of the sentence and the year appears in parentheses.
Example: Yılmaz (2025) reported that social support may play an important role in coping with stress.
One Author
For a work with one author, use the author's surname and publication year.
Parenthetical: (Demir, 2024)
Narrative: Demir (2024)
Two Authors
For a work with two authors, cite both surnames every time the source is cited.
Parenthetical: (Demir & Kaya, 2024)
Narrative: Demir and Kaya (2024)
Three or More Authors
For works with three or more authors, use the first author's surname followed by “et al.” from the first citation onward.
Parenthetical: (Demir et al., 2024)
Narrative: Demir et al. (2024)
Group or Organizational Authors
When a report or document is authored by an organization rather than an individual, the organization may be used as the author.
Example: (World Health Organization, 2024)
If the organization has a commonly recognized abbreviation, the abbreviation may be introduced at first citation.
First citation: (World Health Organization [WHO], 2024)
Later citations: (WHO, 2024)
Multiple Sources in One Citation
Several sources supporting the same statement may be cited within one set of parentheses. They are generally arranged alphabetically and separated by semicolons.
Example: (Demir, 2022; Kaya, 2023; Yılmaz, 2025)
Several Works by the Same Author
When citing multiple works by the same author, publication years may be listed chronologically.
Example: (Yılmaz, 2021, 2023, 2025)
Same Author and Same Year
If the same author has more than one publication from the same year, lowercase letters are added to distinguish the works.
Example: (Yılmaz, 2024a, 2024b)
The same letters must also appear in the corresponding reference list entries.
How Are Direct Quotations Cited?
A direct quotation reproduces wording from another source exactly. In addition to author and year information, a page number should normally be provided.
Example: (Yılmaz, 2024, p. 35)
For a quotation spanning more than one page:
Example: (Yılmaz, 2024, pp. 35–36)
Direct Quotations from Sources Without Page Numbers
For sources without page numbers, such as some web pages, a paragraph number, section heading, or another locator may be used where appropriate.
Example: (World Health Organization, 2024, para. 4)
Secondary Citations
Whenever possible, authors should consult and cite the original source. If the original work cannot be accessed, a secondary citation may be used.
Only the source that was actually consulted should appear in the reference list.
How Is the Reference List Ordered?
APA 7 reference lists are arranged alphabetically by the surname of the first author. References are not numbered.
Multiple works by the same author are generally ordered chronologically from the earliest to the most recent publication.
Hanging Indent
APA reference entries use a hanging indent: the first line begins at the left margin, while subsequent lines are indented.
Journal Article
General format:
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Article title. Journal Title, Volume(Issue), page range. DOI
Example:
Demir, A., & Kaya, B. (2024). Social support and life satisfaction among adults. Journal of Social Research, 12(2), 145–160. https://doi.org/10.0000/example
How Should a DOI Be Written?
In APA 7, a DOI should generally be presented in URL format:
https://doi.org/10.xxxx/xxxxx
The older “doi:” label is not required.
Articles with Article Numbers
Some journals use article numbers instead of page ranges. In such cases, the article number may be included in the reference.
Example:
Demir, A. (2025). Digital transformation in public services. International Journal of Public Research, 8(1), Article e10452. https://doi.org/10.0000/example
Book
General format:
Author, A. A. (Year). Book title. Publisher.
Example:
Yılmaz, A. (2023). Social research methods. Academic Press.
Edited Book
When the entire book is edited rather than authored, the editor may appear in the author position.
Example:
Kaya, B. (Ed.). (2024). Current research in the social sciences. Academic Press.
Book Chapter
General format:
Author, A. A. (Year). Chapter title. In B. B. Editor (Ed.), Book title (pp. xx–xx). Publisher.
Example:
Demir, A. (2024). Ethics in social work research. In B. Kaya (Ed.), Research in social work (pp. 45–62). Academic Press.
Master's Thesis or Doctoral Dissertation
The format depends on publication and access status.
A general online format may be:
Author, A. A. (Year). Title of thesis or dissertation [Master's thesis / Doctoral dissertation, University Name]. Database or institutional repository. URL
Website
General format:
Author or Organization. (Year, Month Day). Title of page. Site Name. URL
If the author and site name are the same, the site name may be omitted to avoid repetition.
Institutional Report
General format:
Organization Name. (Year). Title of report. URL
If the authoring organization is also the publisher, the publisher name may be omitted.
Newspaper Article
General format:
Author, A. A. (Year, Month Day). Title of article. Newspaper Name. URL
Conference Paper
The format for conference material depends on whether the paper has been formally published.
Published conference papers may be referenced similarly to chapters in edited proceedings.
Data Set
Independently published research data sets may also be included in the reference list.
General format:
Author or Organization. (Year). Title of data set [Data set]. Repository. DOI or URL
Software
Some software used in research may require or recommend formal citation. Where the software is central to the research, information such as developer, year, version, and software type may be included.
How Many Authors Are Listed in an APA 7 Reference?
APA 7 lists all authors for works with up to 20 authors.
For works with 21 or more authors, list the first 19 authors, insert an ellipsis, and then include the final author's name.
Capitalization of Titles
Article and book titles follow APA sentence-case conventions. For English-language titles, the first word of the title, the first word after a colon or similar subtitle separator, and proper nouns are generally capitalized.
Journal titles retain their conventional title capitalization.
Journal Title and Volume Formatting
In APA 7, the journal title and volume number are italicized. The issue number appears in parentheses immediately after the volume number and is not italicized.
When Is a Retrieval Date Required?
A retrieval date is not required for most online sources. It may be appropriate for content designed to change over time and that is not archived.
Reference Management Software and APA 7
Zotero, Mendeley, EndNote, and similar tools can generate APA 7 citations and reference lists automatically.
However, automatically generated entries should always be checked before submission, especially for:
- Author names
- Article titles
- Journal titles
- Volume and issue information
- Page ranges
- DOIs
- Capitalization
Common APA 7 Mistakes
- Listing all authors in the text for sources with three or more authors
- Using the wrong conjunction in two-author parenthetical citations
- Failing to provide a page number for a direct quotation
- Mismatch between in-text citations and the reference list
- Failing to alphabetize the reference list
- Using the outdated “doi:” format
- Incorrect italicization of journal titles and volume numbers
- Confusing a book chapter author with the book editor
- Failing to cite paraphrased material
- Using citation software output without checking it
APA 7 Pre-Submission Checklist
- Are author and year details correct in all in-text citations?
- Is “et al.” used correctly for works with three or more authors?
- Do direct quotations include an appropriate locator?
- Does every in-text citation appear in the reference list?
- Is the reference list alphabetized?
- Is hanging indentation applied consistently?
- Are journal titles and volume numbers formatted correctly?
- Are DOIs presented in https://doi.org/ format?
- Have bibliographic details been verified?
- Is APA 7 applied consistently throughout the manuscript?
